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A Glimpse at Islam & Sufism in the Balkans
By Huseyin Abiva (Chicago)
Introduction
The nearly six centuries of Ottoman rule over
southeastern Europe provided ample opportunity for the
spread of Islam.
Indeed, among the nations that now comprise the
Balkans Peninsula (Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro and
Serbia) the visible Muslim component to their
populations are readily evident.
Two of these nations, Albania and Bosnia-Hercegovina,
undoubtedly have Muslim majority populations. The
populations of Macedonia and Serbia (which includes
Kosova) are comprised of huge Muslim minorities. In
Croatia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Greece there are
smaller percentages, but in the case of Bulgaria this
means more than 1 million!
The largest Muslim ethnic group present in the Balkans
is the Albanians, who number over 5 million. They are
concentrated in the central and southern areas of the
Peninsula and form the overwhelming majority of the
population in Albania, the Serbian occupied province
of Kosova and western Macedonia. There are small
groups of Albanians living in Bosnia, Montenegro and
Croatia who are mainly émigrés from the Tito era.
In regards to religion, though they are for the most
part followers of Islam (or the non-practicing
descendants of Muslims), Albanians have never found it
a force for ethnic unity. Significant portions of the
Albanian people still cling to either Catholic or
Orthodox Christianity, and among the Muslim population
there was further division between the Sunni majority
and the followers of the Shiah Bektashi (see below).
The next cultural element in the Muslim population of
the Balkan Peninsula are the Slavs. They number some
3.5 million and are the descendants of those of the
region who embraced Islam during the centuries of
Ottoman rule. Culturally and linguistically they are a
diverse group whose racial base and religious faith
form for the only common factor.
They form a plurality of the inhabitants of
Bosnia-Hercegovina (where they are known as Bonjaks),
a majority of the Serbian-occupied region of the
Sandzak of Novi Pazar, a significant minority in
Macedonia (where they are known as Torbei) and
Bulgaria (where they identify themselves as Pomaks).
Small pockets of Slav speaking Muslims (Pomaks) can
also be found in northern Greece and in Kosova
(Goranis).
The Turkish element of the Muslim population is but a
mere shadow of what it once was, say a hundred years
ago. In the past, Turks made up significant portions
of the populations of Macedonia, Thessaly, the Morea
and Bulgaria. At present, there are nearly one million
Turks who continue to live in Bulgaria. In Macedonia
and Greece there are some 200,000 Muslims who still
identify themselves as Turks. There are also much
smaller communities of ethnic Turks who live in the
urban centers Kosova and the Sandzak.
The smallest of the compact Balkan Islamic ethnic
groups are the Roma (Gypsy) people. They are widely
distributed throughout the region and tend to follow
the dominant religion where they reside. Thus in the
heavily Islamized regions of Bosnia, Albania, Bulgaria
and Macedonia they usually profess Islam as their
creed. In Macedonia the Roma are a highly visible
minority, especially around the capitol city of
Skopje. Historically, the Roma have (and continue to
do so) suffered from racial discrimination by their
non-Roma neighbors, both Muslim and Christian.
In the past there have been other ethnic elements that
have since disappeared due to extermination, expulsion
or assimilation into one of the more dominant Muslim
groups. For instance there were large numbers of
Greek-speaking Muslims in Macedonia, Crete and in the
various regions of Greece up until the turn of the
twentieth century. One also can find the descendants
of Circassian and Tatar refugees still living in
Kosova and Bulgaria though they have been relatively
assimilated into the Albanian or Turkish populations
amongst whom they live.
Sufism as a means of Islamic Propagation during the
Ottoman Era. As with other Muslim lands, the
historical role that the Sufi tariqats played in the
preservation and propagation of Islam in the Balkans
cannot go without notice. It can be said with all
fairness that the implantation of Islamic Civilization
here could not have been possible without the efforts
of these Sufi shaykhs and their orders.
The Sufis of the Ottoman Balkans added enormously both
to the development of an Islam of the intellectual
arena as well as a folk Islam of the masses. Though
now a mere shadow of a once vast manifestation, the
influence of Sufism can still be felt at both the
popular and academic level among the Balkan Muslim
population. The extent of the impact of Sufism and its
role in Balkan Islam can be seen through the number of
tariqats (mystical brotherhoods) that functioned in
the region over the centuries.
The largest and most wide-spread of these tariqats
were the Halveti (Khalwatiyyah) and the Bektashi.
Though minimally represented at present, these two
orders dominated all others during the Ottoman Era.
They were followed by the Naqshibandi, Qadiri and
Rifa`i in size and distribution. All three of these
tariqats have managed to survive to this day. Several
other groups such as the Mevlevis, Bayramis, Melamis,
Sadis, Jelvetis, Shazilis and Bedevis, appeared
during various intervals of the Ottoman period but
have since ceased to exist.
Though the overwhelming majority of Sufis in the
Balkans are associated with the Ottomans, the one of
the first Sufis to have come into the area was the
Bektashi saint Sari Saltik. Though most of the exact
details of his life are clouded by legend, this
fourteenth century Sufi traveled throughout the region
decades well in advance of the Ottoman armies. His
maqams (shrines) can be today found in any number of
places including Bosnia (Blagaj), Romania (Babadað),
Macedonia (near Ohrid) and the most famous in Albania
(Kruja).
As the Ottoman Empire extended its rule into the
southeastern Europe during the 15th and 16th
centuries, the dervishes of various tariqats followed
in its wake. These early Sufis often established
zawiyas or hospices that served not only as symbols of
Ottoman authority over a newly conquered region but as
bases for the diffusion of Islam among the local
people.
Two of these distinguished hospices were established
in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo immediately after the
conquest of the area in 1463. Both of these were built
through grants made by local Ottoman notables and
administered by members of the Naqshibandi Order.
Later, as imperial administration became more
entrenched and the Islamic religious establishment
more present, tekkes were built to cater to the
spiritual needs of the dervishes and local
populations.
The first Ottoman Sufis tended to be primarily from
among the Naqshibandis and their known centers during
this time were established in Bosnia and Macedonia.
Announcedly tied to the Sunni ulama, the Naqshibandi
were in the vanguard of securing orthodox Islam in
Bosnia-Hercegovina and the urban centers of the
Balkans.
There were, in fact, three distinct waves of
Naqshibandi implantation into the Balkans during the
Ottoman period. The earliest phase of implantation was
made through the shaykhs who were the direct
representatives (khalifahs) of Khwajah Ubaydullah
Ahrar. Notable among these were Mulla Abdullah Ilahi
(d.1491), who settled in Serres (Greece) and Shaykh
Lutfullah, who established an early Naqshibandi tekke
in Skopje. It is also probable that the earliest
Naqshibandi teachers in Bosnia (namely Uyran Dede and
Temsi Dede) had affiliation with the two previously
mentioned shaykhs.
In the late 18th century, the Naqshibandi Order in
Bosnia was revived (after having been eclipsed for
nearly a century by the Halvetis) by the work of
Abdurahman Sirri Dede (d.1847) who was a follower of
the Mujaddidi branch that was founded by Ahmad
Sirhindi. Sirri Dede and his disciples turned central
Bosnia into a Naqshibandi stronghold and their
descendants still run fully functional tekkes up to
this day. The third surge of the spread of the
Naqshibandi into the Balkans came short after the
second. In the late 19th century the Khalidi branch
that was established by Khalid al-Baghdadi made its
way into central Bosnia as well as parts of Kosova and
Macedonia. Here too does this branch continue to
function (though to a very limited extent presently in
Kosova and Macedonia).
During the early decades of the 16th century, having
become firmly entrenched in Istanbul and among the
Ottoman ruling class, the shaykhs of the various
Halveti branches sent out their deputies to various
points in the Balkans. Theirs was an order wide spread
and popular, that had literally hundreds of tekkes
established in nearly every region of the peninsula.
The Gültenis had a very early presence in southern
Albania and Epirus and the Jemalis established
important bases in the cities of Sofia (Bulgaria) and
Uzica (Serbia) from which the order further spread
into Bosnia and on into Ottoman Hungary.
Also present were the Sinanis and Sünbülis who had
tekkes in various cities from Sarajevo to Ni to
Skopje to Athens. Later, in the 17th century, a new
wave of Halveti implantation occurred as the new
branches of the Jerrahis, Karabatis and Hayatis came
into fore.
These three sub-orders eventually surpassed the older
branches and came to dominate the Halveti presence in
Albania, Kosova and Macedonia, where two of them (the
Hayatis and the Karabatis) still function to a much
reduced extent today. The Jerrahi sub-Order played a
significant role in the re-establishment of Muslim
life in the Morea and later in Bulgaria. A reformist
minded sub-order of the Halvetis, the Tabanis spread
into Bosnia and Bulgaria during the mid-19th century
and met with considerable but short-lived success.
Like the Naqshibandi, the Halveti were propagators and
defenders of Sunni Islam. Many of the top ranking
Balkan ulama of this period were shaykhs of this
order. The eminent Balkan Muslim theologian of Sofia,
Bulgaria, Sofyalý Bali Efendi (d.1553) along with
other Halveti shaykhs took an active role in combating
the spread of non-orthodox ideas and groups (such as
the Hamzevi movement in Bosnia, the Bedreddinists and
Kizilbat of Bulgaria, and to some extent even the
Bektashis) that had taken root among certain elements
of the Muslim and neo-Muslim populations.
The Bektashi Order, which had long been associated
with the Ottoman military establishment, had during
the 15th and 16th centuries only limited appeal in the
Muslim populations of the region. The early center for
Bektashi activity in the Balkans was the tekke at
Kýzýl Deli in Thrace.
It was here that the second founder of the tariqat,
Balim Sultan (d.1516) sent several of his disciples
out to the Balkans. Though details on the activities
of these early Bektashi shaykhs is difficult to
uncover, the tombs of several of them stand today in
Macedonia (Sersem Ali Baba in Tetova), Bulgaria (Demir
Baba near Razgrad) and Albania (in and around Kruja).
It was not until the 17th century that the Bektashi
began to make headway in its spread into the Balkans
primarily as a result of the destruction by Ottoman
authorities (then under the influence of the anti-Sufi
Kadizade movement) of the main tekke at Kýzýl Deli
and the subsequent dispersal of its dervishes.
The Bektashi Order formed the left end of the Sufi
spectrum in the Balkans. Avowedly Shiah (and often
antinomian) in outlook, their shaykhs (known as babas)
were able to gain sway over rural areas and villages
throughout Greece, southern Albania and Macedonia, as
their toleration and ability to absorb local custom
provided this element of the population with a folk
Islam that they could easily relate to.
Likewise, the Kýzýlbaþ of Bulgaria (who are the
progeny of extremist Shiah Turkoman tribes who were
deported from Anatolia and settled in Bulgaria by the
Ottomans following their conflicts with the Safavids)
quickly and easily assimilated many Bektashi saints
and practices into their own religious doctrines (for
reasons that are beyond the scope of this paper to
discuss).
In other areas of the Balkans, such as
Bosnia-Hercegovina and in large urban centers (in both
where their functioning was limited due the strength
of the orthodox Sunni establishment), the Bektashi
found restricted appeal and were limited in operation
to the Janissary garrisons.
These tekkes were established as a result of the
Ottoman military presence and disappeared as that
crumbled. Several of the more renowned tekkes were
found in Budapest (where the tomb of its founder, Gül
Baba, still remains and is open for visitation), Eger
(also in Hungary, the building of which still stands),
Belgrade and Banja Luka (both of which ceased to exist
long ago).
In the 19th century, the Bektashi began to gain an
immense footing in Albania and Greece, following the
destruction of the Janissary Corps and the banning of
the tariqat in 1826. Many Bektashi babas and dervishes
fled to the remote areas of the Balkans far from the
reach of the Ottoman government. During this period
(especially after the order outlawing of the Bektashis
was rescinded in the 1860s), the tariqat had gained a
sizeable presence in southern Albania.
It was even remarked by one English traveler in the
area during the late-19th that were as only one out of
ten Albanians north of Tirana followed the Bektashi
Order, in the south it was the exact reverse, with
nine out of ten Muslims affiliated with the tarikat!
By the end of Ottoman rule in 1912, there were nearly
one hundred Bektashi tekkes in the Albanian populated
lands of the central and western Balkans.
At the beginning of the 17th century, two more
tariqats, the Qadiris and the Mevlevis, were to make
their appearance in the Balkans, both of which were to
play an important role in the Sufism in the region.
The Qadiri Order began to fan out from its base in
Istanbul under the initiative of Shaykh Ismail Rumi
(d.1631).
By the 1660s Qadiri tekkes could be found in Prizren
(the Kurila Tekke of Shaykh Hasan Horasani), Berat
(the Sheh Ahmet tekke), Skopje (Aldi Sultan Tekke),
Sarajevo (the Had_i Sinan Tekke), Gasoutni (the tekke
of Delikli Baba) and other major urban areas. The
Qadiri tarikat became entrenched in Bosnia due to the
work of the distinguished shaykh Hasan Kaimi Baba
(d.1691). This prolific writer directed at least two
Qadiri tekkes in the city of Sarajevo, before his
outspoken involvement of local politics led to his
expulsion from the city.
The Qadiri Order continued to function throughout the
Ottoman era and it received a further boost in its
activities at the end of the 19th century. During this
period two notable shaykhs, Mehmed Sezai and Hajji
Kadri (both Albanians and well-educated ulama)
rejuvenated the order in Kosova, Bosnia and to a
lesser extent Macedonia after their return from
studying shariah in Istanbul. Hajji Kadri (d.1936),
who received his ijazah in the Qadiri tarikat from the
famous Turkish shaykh Mehmed Emin Tarsusi, established
a well-organized network of deputies throughout the
region from Travnik in Bosnia to Peshkopi in eastern
Albania.
As the Qadiris made their entrance into the Balkan
Peninsula, so did the order founded by the great
mystic Jalaluddin Rumi. In a short space of fifty
years the Mevlevis were able to establish noticeable
tekkes in Plovdiv, Serres, Salonika, Elbasan, Skopje,
Belgrad, Pécs (in Hungary) and Sarajevo. Due to the
highly sophisticated outlook of the order, its appeal
was generally restricted to the cities and to the
educated elite. During the Ottoman era, scores of
Balkan Mevlevis ranked among the finest literati of
the empire. Such figures as Habib Dede (d.1643), Fevzi
Mostarac (d.1707) and Fazil Pata erifovic (d.1882)
left their indelible mark on Ottoman religious
literature.
However, due to the limited attraction of the order
and its elaborate ceremonies, which required
considerable practice, the Mevlevis soon vanished from
the Balkans once the Ottoman Empire left the region
and the main center of Konya was later closed by
Atatürk. The last functioning Mevlevi establishment in
the Balkans was located in the city of Skopje. It was
demolished in the 1950s after its last shaykh, Hakki
Dede left for Turkey.
During the Ottoman era, several smaller tariqats
gained establishment on a much smaller scale. The
Bayrami Order of Hajji Bayram Veli (d.1430) built
tekkes in scattered locations throughout the Balkans,
such as Skopje in Macedonia, Sofia in Bulgaria and
Shkodra in northern Albania. Two of the branches of
the Bayrami tariqat, the Jelveti and the Melami had
comparable success.
Only the later received considerable success in Kosova
and Macedonia in the late 19th century thanks to the
efforts of the Egyptian born shaykh Muhammad Nur
ul-`Arabi (d.1897). He gained considerable a following
in the region due to his charismatic appeal.
A much earlier offshoot of the Bayrami-Melami
fraternity, the Hamzevi was established by a Bosnian
shaykh, Hamza Baliya (d.1573). Through his preaching
an extremely heterodox interpretation of Islam (which
was undoubtedly influenced by Hurufi and Ismaili
doctrines) he gained a popular following all along the
Drina River valley in eastern Bosnia. The order caused
much alarm among the Sunni religious establishment and
the ulama of the Balkans (who were nearly all
affiliated with the Naqshibandi and Halveti orders)
came out in adamant opposition to the Hamzevis.
Finally, Hamza Baliyas open criticism of the state
caused alarm from the Ottoman government. Following
the issuance of fatwas, he was arrested in Bosnia,
brought to Istanbul to stand trial and executed. His
followers were suppressed and forced underground while
Hamzevi leaders executed or exiled. Decades later, the
Hamzevi Order came out from hiding, but had by then
moderated some of their original heterodox teachings.
The Sadi Order founded by Shaykh Sadeddin Jibawi
(d.1330), first came into the Balkans in the late 17th
century through the efforts of Adzizi Baba, a native
of northern Albania. He established a main tekke in
Prizren and the tarikat spread further into Albania
and Kosova.
The Sadi Order still today plays a considerable role
in these areas. Another order of Arab origin, the
Rifais, came into the region in two waves; the first
in the late 1700s was limited to Macedonia and
Bulgaria and was implanted through the efforts of
several Arab shaykhs, and the second, which occurred
in the late 19th century, that securely established
the order as a significant force in Balkan Sufism.
This imbedding of the Rifai into modern Balkan Muslim
life was a result of the work of Shaykh Musa
Muslihuddin of Kosova (d. 1917). He built up a strong
network of disciples and tekkes in Kosova and northern
Albania. Like the Qadiri shaykh Hajji Kadri, Shaykh
Musa had close contact with the Muslims of Bosnia and
even established a small Rifai group in Sarajevo. Two
other Arab tarikats, the Shazeli and Bedevi remained
restricted to one or two tekkes in Kosova and Bulgaria
and they have all but disappeared from the region,
although a Qadiri-Bedevi branch does function to this
day in Sarajevo under the leadership of Shaykh Zakir
Bekitc.
During the Ottoman period Sufism in the Balkans can be
seen to have several currents that gave it its
character. First was that most of the shaykhs of the
staunchly Sunni orders of the Halvetis, Naqshibandis,
and Qadiris were members of the ulema. The numerous
shaykhs who had brought these orders into the region
had been for the most part educated in the important
Islamic theological institutions in Istanbul, Baghdad,
Cairo, Damascus and Madinah. Many of these shaykhs and
their disciples were functionaries in the Sunni
religious hierarchy that upheld the Ottoman State.
This may have given a few of these orders an elitist
tint.
The many members of these tarikats (especially the
Mevlevis and Bektashis) were prolific writers of prose
and theology who wrote not only in Arabic, Persian and
Ottoman but also in the vernacular. For instance
Shaykh Umar Kashari al-Qadiri developed the first
Albanian-Turkish lexicon in 1804. Such figures in
Balkan Sufism were ranked among the most scholarly and
intellectual in the Muslim World at that time.
For the average Muslim citizen of the Balkan provinces
of the empire the appeal of certain tariqats depended
on the social surroundings in which they lived. In the
urban centers of Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia and
Serbia (that were primarily Turkish speaking) the
Halvetis, Rifais and Qadiris proved to be easily
accessible to those who desired to pursue a spiritual
path.
The vociferous and physically intense zikrs of these
orders definitely held some attraction to the masses
as opposed to the more somber practices of the
Naqshibandi and the highly intellectual philosophies
of the Mevlevis. These three tarkiats also remained
inside the general Sunni worldview (unlike the
Bektashis for instance) which made them free of social
stigmatization.
In rural areas, often far removed from the
educational institutions of the religious
establishment, the orders that were the widest spread
tended to have had heterodox and syncretistic
teachings. Here, in order to facilitate an easy
transition from Christianity to Islam, the people
often kept elements of their old ways (which were
often of pre-Christian in origin themselves). For
instance, the Hamzevis found considerable appeal along
the very rural districts of the Drina River valley in
the 16th century shortly after the population of the
area had converted to Islam. The 14th century
religio-political movement of Shaykh Beddruddin Simavi
(if it can be defined as a Sufi tariqat) was confined
to the wilds of the Bulgarian backcountry. Both of
these movements were crushed by the Ottoman
government, but many of their ideas are believed to
have filtered into the Bektashi Order, the Sufi order
that held enormous influence over large parts of the
rustic Balkans.
The Situation of Sufism in the post-Ottoman Balkans
The decline of the Sufi Orders in the Balkans of
course mirrored the general collapse of Ottoman rule
in the area. The first lands to go were the Danubian
provinces of Hungary and Slavonia that had by the
early part of the 18th century been completely cleaned
of its Muslim population.
The Sufism that had once been a vibrant part of the
Islamic presence in these areas vanished during this
holocaust. In the formerly Muslim regions of Serbia,
Greece and Bulgaria, traces of these Ottoman
institutions no longer survive due to the virulent
eradication policies of Orthodox Christian chauvinism.
The end of Ottoman rule in Bosnia-Hercegovina in 1878
did not spell the end of Sufism in the area. Though
greatly affected by a mass migration of a considerable
portion of the Muslim population out of the province,
several new Sufi shaykhs managed to establish new
centers of influence in Bosnia. For instance, the
Naqshibandi-Khalidi Order was introduced into central
Bosnia by Mufti Shaykh Husnija Numanagic (d.1931) and
the Halveti-Sabanis of Shaykh Sejfudin Iblizovic
(d.1889) opened tekkes in the northeastern parts of
the country.
During the Austro-Hugarian occupation, Sufis were
allowed to maintain their contacts with their brethren
elsewhere in the Muslim World. An example of this was
the visitation of the two most important Kosovar
shaykhs of the time, Hajji Kadri and Musa Muslihudin.
These two men traveled to Hapsburg Bosnia and met with
local Sufis there. Likewise the Bektashi Babas of
Kosova were in regular contact with the small
community of Albanian Bektashis that resided in
Sarajevo.
This situation remained as so during the years of the
first Yugoslav state (1918-1941). However the
continued migration of many Muslims from Bosnia led to
the rapid decline of several orders. By the 1930s the
Halvetis had all but disappeared in Bosnia-Hercegovina
and by the end of WWII there was not a single one of
their tekkes in operation.
Though both the Naqshibandis and Qadiris continued
their operation, they were limited in reach to the
solidly Muslim areas of central Bosnia. Following the
end of WWII and the establishment of communist rule
over Yugoslavia, a period of general decline marked
the Sufi Orders.
In 1952 all tariqat activities were banned, not as
might be though by the communist government, but by
the modernist minded `ulama of the government
sanctioned Islamic Community, who saw the orders and
their shaykhs as a remnant of archaic superstition and
innovation. As a result all tekkes were officially
closed in Bosnia-Hercegovina, but they continued to
function in Kosova and Macedonia simply because there
the shaykhs residences were often the tekke itself.
This ban remained in place until the early 1970s when
thanks to the efforts of several prominent scholars in
the Muslim community, notably the Qadiri-Mevlevi
shaykh and imam Fejzulah Hadzibajric (d.1990) and the
Rifai shaykh of Prizren, Xhemali Shehu (b.1926), made
a successful move to revitalize Sufism in Yugoslavia.
In 1974 the Community of Islamic Dervish Orders of the
SFRY (ZIDRA) was formed as an umbrella organization to
promote tasawwuf. With this organization in place, the
restrictions on dervish activities in
Bosnia-Hercegovina were disregarded.
During the wars that racked Yugoslavia between
1991-1995, the Sufi Orders and their followers played
an active role in the defense of the Muslim community
against the might of Serb and Croat aggression.
Shaykhs of both the Naqshibandi and Qadiri tariqats
had their dervishes formed into fighting units that
took to the fronts notably in central Bosnian and
along the Brcko corridor. The current situation for
Sufism in Bosnia-Hercegovina is bright. Never having
had the stigma of heresy attached to it, Sufism is
accepted overall by both the religious establishment
(many of whose members are openly involved in the
orders) and the laity.
Except for the Wahhabi presence that has now invaded
Bosnia thanks to missionaries of the sect from Arab
countries, the legitimacy of Islamic mysticism was
never in question both during the Ottoman period and
at the present.
In Kosova, the post-Ottoman situation resembled that
of Bosnia. With the exception of the Serb terror of
1912-13 and the 1952 ban, Sufism continued to flourish
unabated.
Though certain orders disappeared by WWII (such as the
Mevlevis), others actually grew in influence. During
the 1970s the Rifais came to dominate the spiritual
scene in the former Yugoslavia due to the
inexhaustible efforts of Shaykh Xhemali Shehu of the
Prizren tekke. Other surviving orders in Kosova
included the Sadis, Qadiris and the
Halveti-Karabatis. The Bektashi also had a modest
tekke in the town of Gjakova in an otherwise sea of
Kosovar Sunnism.
It is unkown as to the extent of damage the Serb
genocide of Albanians in Kosova has affected these
Sufi institutions. In the summer of 1998, the beloved
76 year-old shaykh of the Karabatis of Orahovac,
Muhedin Shehu, was shot dead by Serb para-militaries.
In the area of Macedonia, the tariqats suffered
tremendously from the constant migration of the Muslim
population to Turkey. By the 1930s many tekkes in the
once Turkish dominated regions of central and eastern
Macedonia stood abandoned as a result of these
population shifts.
Today one can still find the turbes of shaykhs that
still exist in areas where Muslims no longer form an
element of the demographic make-up. Often the local
Macedonian Christian population gives these sights
considerable veneration. The tariqat that suffered the
most from this decline was the Halveti, which was
represented in Macedonia in its Sinani, Hayati and
Jerrahi branches. Of these only the Hayati remains
functioning today in the Albanian regions of western
Macedonia.
The Rifais (of a different branch than those of
Kosova) and Sadis continue to operate through out the
region and are at this time dominated by Roma
(Gypsies). The Bektashi also have small communities in
the Albanian towns of Gostivar, Kicevo and Tetova as
well among the Turkish-speaking communities of
Kanatlar and Strumica.
Elsewhere in the post-Ottoman Balkans, the activities
of the tariqats is virtually non-existant. In Albania,
the largest orders were the Bektashis and the
Halvetis, but the Tijanis, Rifais, Qadiris and Sadis
also had a presence. The Bektashi played a prominent
role in the inter-war years and the headquarters of
the tariqat was moved from Anatolia to Tirana
following Atatürks abolition of the Sufi Orders.
There was a formation of an umbrella organization of
Sunni Sufi orders in the 1930s known as the Drita
Hynorë (Heavenly Light) which was formed by the
Tijanis, Rifais and Qadiris. The Halveti branches
likewise formed the Kryesia e Sektë Alevijanë (The
Center of the Alevi Sect) which organized yearly
conferences and gatherings.
In the 1950s severe restrictions were placed on the
Sufi Orders (and religion in general) and all of them
were officially detached from the Sunni mainstream by
the communist government. Each order was recognized as
a religion on to itself in an attempt by the
government to divide and rule.
Finally in 1967, dictator Enver Hoxha declared all
religious belief anathema and outlawed it altogether.
Scores of clergy from all faiths were executed
imprisoned or forced into hiding. Despite these
draconian measures many families kept the Sufi
traditions alive in secret and those shaykhs who went
underground continued to teach even with the knowledge
of what would occur if caught.
By the time the ban on religion was rescinded in
Albanian in 1991, only the Bektashis and the Halvetis
had shaykhs who were still alive. The later made
attempts to re-establish itself in the country under
the leadership of Shaykh Muammar Pazari and the
Halveti Order now holds a meager place in Albanian
Sufism.
The Bektashis found considerably more fortune in
re-organizing themselves. The headquarters of the
tariqat was returned by the government (it was a home
for the elderly in communist times) and the few
remaining babas set about teaching once more. The
Bektashi Order managed to recruit dervishes from among
the young and it issues a monthly magazine Urtësia.
The current head of the order, the dedebaba, is the
elderly Reshat Bardhy. The RifaI have also managed to
re-establish its presence in the country. Through the
work of Shaykh Xhemali of Prizren the order has
constructed tekkes in Tirana, Shkodra and Berat.
Likewise, the Tijani has a well-felt presence among
the higher Sunni clergy, including the current
grand-mufti, Hafiz Sabri Koçi.
Little is know at this time of the situation of the
tariqats in Bulgaria, whose Muslim community suffered
through a terrible pogrom during the 1980s. In the
pre-WWII period, the Halvetis, Bektashis,
Naqshibandis, Shazilis, Qadiris and Mevlevis existed
but few survived the communist led assimilation
campaign.
However, Muslims still visit the graves of various
saints, which points to some form of survival. In
Greece, there is some lingering Bektashi communities
among the Turks of Western Thrace.
Balkan Sufism beyond
It is important to note that the first Sufi lodge to
be established in North America was the First American
Albanian Bektashi Monastery. This center was founded
in the early 1950's by Baba Rexhep (d.1995), native of
the southern Albanian town of Gjrokaster.
This remarkable figure managed to preserve the
Bektashi identity of many Albanian Muslims despite the
pressures from the anti-religious programs of his
native land and the pull of assimilation in the United
States. Over the decades the tekke (which is located
outside of Detroit) expanded in size and membership.
Following the death of Baba Rexhep, the tekke is now
under the directorship of Baba Flamur Shkala, a very
energetic and young shaykh who will hopefully serve
his community well.
In the late 1970s the Rifai Order made its first
presence in the United States with the establishment
of a modest center in the Washington D.C. are by Dr.
Asaf Durakovic, who was a khalifah of both Shaykh
Xhemali of Prizren and the Halveti-Hayati branch of
Macedonia. The Rifai Order subsequently expanded in
the 1980s and 1990s to include centers in New York,
Staten Island, Toronto, Cleveland and most recently in
Chicago. In fact, due to the genocidal warfare being
conducted by the Serbs in Kosova, Shaykh Xhemali Shehu
has taken up residence in the United States.
Also it is important to note the activity of two
non-Balkan Sufi Orders into the region. The
Halveti-Jerrahis (who had historically been present in
the southern Balkans), began a program to assist
Bosnian students achieve higher education in the
United States. A history of the order translated into
Bosnian may help establish its presence in the area.
The Naqshibandi-Haqqani Order of Shaykh Nazim has also
began to take root in Bosnia and Albania where his
writings have been popularly received.
end.
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